A night on Garnet
by Akoro88
Summary: A prequel fragment for my Serenity/Halo Crossover : Into the Black, Forever Free. Manning thinks about home, and his squad one night on the planet Garnet. When his scout slips back, they have a talk.
1. Chapter 1

Ok, here a short story fragment. It's kind of a prequel to my Serenity/Halo crossover 'Into the Black, Forever Free'.

I needed something to kill the time, and writers block in my brain. It's all OC in here. If you like this or my other work, you can follow what I'm up to on my blog : .com/

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Garnet, contrary to the name, was not a reddish planet. It was more green and brown. An abundance of pine and temperate forests would do that. Manning thought the place beautiful, were it not covered in hordes of covenant troops, and under threat of being glassed.

It was like a bad, repetitive dream. Every day they fought. Every day they got pushed further back. Everyday they came closer to losing yet another planet to those alien bastards. The split chin fucks and all their associates had started this war, for what?

Sgt. Liam Manning shook his head at the thought. He'd be dammed if he would live to see them reach and glass Earth. Over his dead body. He'd give his life to protect his sister, and his nephew. Mara and Eddy. He smiled at the thought of them.

The pain of separation from his twin was something he was used to by now, but it didn't make the longing go away. His nephew, Edward, or Eddy for short, was named after his good friend and fellow ODST. The kid had spunk, and was ready to join the UNSC and protect Earth, and his mom. Eddy could already fire a gun with the accuracy of any marine. It made Manning proud. It made the kids mom frown. She hoped her son would go on to a better career, such as a battleship engineer, like her.

Years ago Mara entered a prestigious school on Philadelphia called Drexel University. Before she had a chance to move from her home city of San Francisco however, she discovered her twin brother had enlisted. Hell bent and determined to make sure her brother would have the best protection possible in a ship to ship confrontation, she switched over from chemical engineering. Manning always looked on this fondly as her way of taking care of him. She was 7 seconds older of course.

What he wouldn't give to be in that sunny city playing grav ball with his nephew. No, he was needed here, on Garnet. His squad needed him. What would they do else wise?

He glanced over at the sleeping forms of about twenty men. In there were three of his own. The sergeant could pick out the silhouettes of Austin Cooper, Curt Leth, and Nikolai Ross. The fourth, Kevin Raines, was out on patrol somewhere. Manning wouldn't even try to find him if his life depended on it. You would think you've spotted him, only to have him contact your radio just to say you're looking in the totally opposite direction.

The first one, he couldn't pronounce the name right if he tried. It was old Irish Gaelic, so the medic had told him just to use the English version of 'Curt'. Leth lay up against his medical pack, right arm twitching slightly in his sleep. About a year ago he'd nearly shattered it in fight to prevent an elite from hi-jacking their Warthog. 'Good as new!' He proclaimed after the surgeries, but still got tremors every so often. The medic was dependable, loyal and great company. Nothing unsettled him. There was a brutal streak in the Irishman that had yet to be fully revealed, and woe to the one in the way when it reared its ugly head. The guy was short, but vicious.

Next to Leth, with an arm curled lovingly over his rocket launcher, was Ross. Demolitions, explosives and structural assessment. There was nothing, human or alien built he couldn't destroy. The kid had an amazingly positive disposition, and a good sense of humor. He was also the youngest in the squad. Smart too. What in the hell was he doing in the field? Manning knew ONI had to be pissing themselves over the kid's test scores. Either way, he was a joy to have, though no one would EVER admit that. A jokester through and through, Ross always had something sarcastic, or humorous to say. Comic relief he was.

Cooper was the newest, and youngest other than Ross. New wasn't the right word. It had been almost ten years all five of them had been together. He was from the desert planet of Soma that had gotten glassed years ago. The son of wealthy traders, he abandoned the path of a preacher to enlist and defend the innocent. Smart, and quick thinking, the communications expert was good to have around. He learned quickly, and no computer stood up to him for long. Good in a fire fight too. He was pretty accurate with grenades of all variety….

The forest around them was quiet. The sky was clear, and no Banshees flew over them. If ever there was a time to rest in the field, it was now. So why couldn't the sergeant get just one hour? He shifted in his battle armor uncomfortably. A small plasma burn on his leg throbbed.

_Goddamn grunts…._

A light static brought him out of his thoughts. His radio was crackling. It was Raines.

"Sgt. Manning?"

"I read you Raines."

"I'm coming back in. Don't shoot me."

"Roger that."

"Don't let any of them shoot me either."

Manning suppressed a chuckle. "You're green Raines."

He stood up, and nudged Cooper, and another guy named Lysta awake. They were told to go out on patrol, and not to shoot the sniper making his way back to camp.

The wind blew in from the south, and he could smell something burning. Maybe they would have to move sooner than he thought. The two ODST's left for their shift, and it wasn't long after wards that the silent black form crept up. If Kevin hadn't approached from right in front of him, Manning would have never spotted the man.

The sniper was using the fallen trees for his path. Like a tight rope walker, his balance was perfect. Ross had joked about Raines having the grace of a ballerina once. It earned him a swift smack to the back of the head.

Kevin Raines was a trained free runner and martial artist. His physical conditioning put the rest of them to shame. Manning had been thoroughly impressed by his record when considering him as an addition to the squad. Shocked was another good word for it. The sharpshooter had a thick record for a reason, a reason he liked to be kept quiet. He was big on personal business staying personal. Manning respected this. The guy also had a fearsome reputation among the troopers, with good reason. He was a top shot for the UNSC. About the only person to out do him was rumored to be a Spartan. The handful of gruesome fist fights in the cafeterias and locker rooms only added to it. You didn't beat Kevin Raines in hand to hand combat. It just didn't happen. Manning didn't have a clue what art the guy was trained it. What ever it was, it was brutal.

Raines leapt off the logs, landed silently, and made his way towards the sergeant.

"Sit down. You've been out there most of the night."

The sniper didn't argue.

"How you feeling?"

Raines turned his helmet covered head. "Tired. Dirty. Pissed."

"Pissed? Why?"

Raines sat back against a tree and stretched out his rather long legs. The man was tall. He didn't respond right away.

Manning wouldn't push him. Raines was anti-social, awkward, and tended to answer people in a laconic, apathetic fashion. He said very little, but what he said he meant.

He also was highly hesitant to answer any question not relevant to the mission at hand. That might be what this was.

Just as Manning was prepared to forget the question and tell him to sleep, Raines responded.

"They denied my commendation medal, and my bronze star."

Manning shifted to look at him. "Again?"

Raines nodded. "Yeah. Third time."

Manning exhaled heavily. He knew why. He knew a lot about the man in front of him that others would never even fathom.

"Don't let it get to you."

Raines threw up his hands in disgust. "How can I not? Nothing I do matters. _Nothing._ As long as I've got that red flag on my forehead, I'm screwed."

The sergeant pressed his lips into a thin line. Moments like this were rare. Kevin would never allow any one to see him showing this much emotion. It took forever for the two of them to bond to this point. Manning had a feeling he was the best friend the Corporal had.

"You _know_ how long it took me to get my rank. But why should _**I**_ get medals I've earned _**several**_ times over? How dare I expect something so small. I don't want a fucking hero label, just a little acknowledgement for what I've done. Something good on my name once I kick it." The sniper brought his knees up to his chest and rested his arms on top. The rifle was still slung over his shoulder.

"I might be able to get someone with a better record than me to give you a recommendation at the next hearing. If you want."

Raines waved his hand. "No, you've tarnished your name enough for me. I'll not have some other guy too good for this war, do the same."

"If you change your mind, let me know. Eddy wouldn't mind. You wouldn't be the first problem child he's helped out, so to speak."

Raines chuckled. "Yeah, but my problems are a little more deep seated than just disciplinary issues."

"How many years you got left on the sentence?"

"Twenty six. And that fat fuck governor is at _every_ hearing. Why hasn't he croaked from a coronary yet? He's seventy something. I guess daddy has to stand up for his precious piece of shit baby boy no matter what…."

"You've more than done your part for humanity. Jerkoffs behind desks need to be thrown out in the battle field to see what it's like." Manning muttered.

"Ha" Raines laughed in agreement. " Yeah, so they can piss their pants right before an Elite runs them through with one of those swords. And don't forget," He made quotation marks with his hand, "I haven't paid back society yet." The sniper made a motion like he was going to whack one off.

They both laughed. The longer Manning knew him, the more apparent the mans disgust with humanity was.

"Well, you know where you stand with me Kev. You're green."

"Yeah…"

Manning stood up, and put a hand on Raines's shoulder.

"Get some sleep. That's an order. We gotta move north in the morning."

"Roger that Sarge."

He watched the sniper shift for a minute before growing still.

He walked away. Liam Manning valued every man under his command. They were his responsibility, and he would take care of them. To hell with reputation. Those men were family and he would treat them accordingly. In his mind, he was already drafting his next recommendation letter…

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Ok, hope you guys liked it. It was just something I jotted down in an hour and promptly posted. Read and Review!

~Akoro


	2. 10 min Drabbles

Ok, so here are some drabbles I wrote. What I did, was similar to a writing meme I read in another story. I turned my ipod on shuffle, and the first songs that popped up, got shorts written to them. I took about ten minutes on each one.

I have decided to make Garnet a one shot and drabble collection. Enjoy!

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**"Tourniquet" - Evanesance.**

Blood dripped off his hands, and Kevin surveyed the damage he'd dealt. Corbin's face was nothing but a muted pink mess. The brick had seen to that. The anger that had rose in him to dangerous levels had flowed out as an uncontainable rage.

He'd gone looking for the trouble. It didn't matter though. This prick had deserved it after the crimes he'd committed. The courts might have found the twenty year old governor's son not guilty, but that was a flaw in judiciary system. The evidence had been stacked against the man, and he'd walked on a technicality! A technicality had allowed that son of a bitch to go free despite having Adele's bloody locket in his car, despite being the last one seen with her, despite the DNA evidence linking him to her cold corpse!

The worthless waste of human flesh had murdered and raped Kevin's sister and been allowed to walk scot free. This was not balanced. It couldn't be allowed. He'd waited until he could get Corbin alone, in the back alley behind a club. The man was seven years his senior, but it made no difference. Kevin had been taught to fight since he was old enough to walk. Taking down those larger than him was as simple as using a can opener.

The scum bag only landed a handful of punches. Kevin had him on the ground quick. The brick had found its self delivered into his shaking fist. There was a roaring in his ears and time was slow motion.

The degenerate was no more, and his sister's justice was found. This was how things were supposed to go. His soul cried at the loss, at his actions, at the end of his innocence and connection of faith. The system didn't work, it didn't shield the defenseless. Killing his pain had only brought more, for this was only the beginning.

Dread consumed him at the thought of his parent's reactions when the police finally picked him up. But an eerie calm oozed over him like oil. If he was too lost to be saved after this, then so be it. He'd wanted to die after the loss of his twin. He still did. Whatever the universe may desire to enact balance was fine. If he was denied, it would make no difference. There was no turning back now.

* * *

**"Bad Romance" – Lady Gaga**

Nikolai bounced in his seat, the tools in his hands perfectly still. The motherboard for the smart bomb needed tweaking before the mission, and he had volunteered to do it. Mickey's team needed to sleep before their next assignment anyway.

The beat from his ear bud head phones guided his foot tapping and head bobbing. He loved to listen to his dance music when tinkering with heavy explosives. Calmed him down. Took his mind off of other things. The double doors to the workshop slid open, and he groaned loudly.

Callie, a marine from the 95t CSB battalion waltzed in, just a bit of sass in her step.

Immediately, her mouth started to go. He couldn't understand a word of it because the music in his ears. Reluctantly he pulled the ear buds out.

"Yes?"

"Why didn't you meet me at chow?"

"Because I have work to do?" He gestured to the bomb components sitting in front of him.

"You could have taken a break."

"And take the chance of compromising my mission and squad? Uh, NO."

"You're such a ginger headed little shit!"

He reverted back to his favorite cradle language, one his mother had taught him early on. He didn't have an ounce of patience for the woman.

"Asculta tu căţea nebun, ai fost doar o gaură de a şanţ în când eram plictisit. Acum du-te lovitură ofiţerul dvs. de comanda pentru o promovare şi lăsaţi-mă în pace!"

She stared at him dumbly. "What?"

He ground his teeth together, and nearly pulled the black ODST shirt over his head in annoyance. "I'm not even going to be on this ship much longer, got it? What, you've never had a one night stand before cruiser jumps?"

"That's all it was?"

He wanted to slam his head on the table.

"Didn't I find you on a corner somewhere?"

"EXCUSE ME?"

"Iesi afara! Încercaţi să evitaţi herpes pe drum inapoi!" He got up and took her by the shoulders, guiding her out of the door. She protested some more, but it fell on deaf ears.

When the doors closed, he locked them.

Dear god, Leth was right. Avoid ship board chicks at all costs. Hell, avoid women. How did the Irishman deal with being married?

* * *

**"Links 234" - Rammstein**

"Get down!!" Leth screamed. Concrete flew through the air, pelting the ODST's with debris and dirt. The crashed banshee exploded in a blue energy blast.

Next to him, Ross carried a deadly scowl upon his face; it was more of a snarl as he reloaded the rocket launcher. The demo expert had lost his helmet long ago. It had been the head covering with the plasma grenade attached, or his skull. Blood trickled from a gash on the top of his cranium, but the red haired man ignored it.

"FIRE!!" Manning screamed, and several dozen marines and troopers rose from hiding, firing a volley of bullets, grenades, and commandeered plasma weaponry.

The covenant troops fell before them like bowling pins, except the brutes. Two of them roared in anger, and charged the front line of soldiers.

Ross stood up, taking aim. "This is what I think of you, you ape fucking twat buckets!"

The rocket left the launcher and connected with the first brute's chest. Red spray and pink pulp showered the men. But, as if riding a wave, the second jumped the line, roaring its rage for the battle field to hear.

It landed on an unfortunate marine, crushing the man instantly. Manning reacted instantaneously, launching a large combat knife from the holster on his chest, into the things upper torso.

"TAKE HIM DOWN!!" Assault rifles began firing.

"No, I thought we were going to ask him to tea!" Ross drew his side arm.

The brutes arm swung, smacking into anyone close by. Manning and Ross were knocked off their feet.

Cooper stood, lobbing a glowing blue projectile. It hit true, sticking to the things out stretched claw. It roared in pain, and fired it's spiker in response. Cooper ducked, just barely in time.

A sharp crack sundered the air and blood sprayed from its unwounded shoulder. Over a hundred yards away, a hell jumper stood. Raines.

Leth took advantage of the distraction. He pumped the shotgun slugs into the over sized target. Armor be damned, those shells chewed through him like a wood chipper. When it whirled on him to retaliate, the medic took aim one final time. The beast's beady little eye became a gaping hole that oozed gray mash.

"Keep Moving!" Manning ordered.

Leth jumped the make shift cover he'd been using urging the shaken marines forward. They used the side of a building for cover. Ross hit the wall behind him, charging his handgun.

Leth looked back, the troopers and marines lined up like dominos against the ruined building. Manning half crouched next to them.

The medic peaked around the corner. The ruined sky line of Helsinki loomed before them. Sky scrapers spouted flame, and one had collapsed over an hour ago.

"Ready?" Leth asked. Manning looked over his shoulder.

Raines finally caught up, slamming into the barrier at the end of the line. The Sergeant nodded.

The group charged from behind the wall, showering the area in rounds. Some lobbed grenades. The Jackals were caught off guard, and fell quickly. The war cries the men emitted was their only outlet to express the rage and grief deep in their hearts. The covenant would get the fuck out this city, come hell or high water.

* * *

**"My Plague"- Slipknot**

Three days. That's how long he'd been on the _Bay Effort_. Since then the men on board had made it apparent he wasn't very welcome. He was one the last survivors of the IEP program, the only one on this ship, and therefore looked down upon by men who hadn't been incarcerated before joining the war effort. He was not assigned a unit or squad yet. Everything was still in chaos after the hurried slip space jump to escape the doomed planet of Chematicia. That was where his entire squad had been wiped out by aerial bombardment. Being tucked away in his snipers nest had been the only thing that saved his life.

Right now he just wanted to get to a table in the cafeteria, eat some dinner, and go to sleep. He noticed several stares in his direction as he walked by. It wasn't ODST's, but Marines. He knew from the uniforms. He himself was in black PT's. They identified him as a Hell Jumper; the pretty much kept anyone at bay from approaching him. The other ODST's didn't know what to make of him yet, and he wasn't inclined to care. Rumors of his war record were already circulating, adding even more to aid the distance factors with others. He liked it like that.

Kevin had only taken a few bites of his cheese burger when he felt the vibrations in the floor of someone walking up behind him. He instinctively tensed.

"You're in my seat."

Kevin's face remained impassive. "This place is half empty. You can find another one."

"But I want that one, so move." Several people were starting to look over at them. Kevin Raines had yet to budge.

"Either you disappear, or I'll make you go. We don't need people like you. Should a just dropped on that battle field with the rest of those IEP wastes."

"Are you done?"Out of the corner of his eye, a table of men in similar black uniforms stood up from their food. A peculiarly short guy and red head were up front. They watched intently. Other tables with black uniforms followed.

"I can't believe they let someone like you join the Hell-"

"Maybe because trash like you couldn't hack it." He picked up the metal drinking cup, as he said this. Alternately, it allowed Kevin to see behind him. The reflection betrayed the guy's next move. With a reaction like a cat, Kevin ducked to the side to avoid the fist and whirled out his seat, gripping his steel tray. The food flew from it as the tray connected with the back of the man's skull. The marines face connected with the table. When he moved to try and swing again, Raines swiped his feet from beneath him and grasped his wrist in an iron grip. He twisted the guys arm back.

When the marine attempted to swing a third time, and kick, Raines was ready. He kneed the guy's inner thigh, rearing a shout of pain, and delivered an elbow to the throat. He held out on the second move though, so as not to kill the man. He wasn't in the mood for another murder conviction. This time, the attacker was completely incapacitated.

When his buddies that had been standing back a ways moved in to join the fight, Kevin prepared to hold them off. But he didn't have to.

From the left, the lead man's jaw made a sickening crack as it dislocated from the connecting punch. The short fellow from earlier threw a haymaker, and it landed home. The little man had one hell of a punch.

A second marine found himself on the floor when the momentum from his charging was turned against him by the red head, and turned into a throw.

Other black uniforms threw punches or got between marines and their intended target. The other troopers had gotten up in defense of one of their own.

"ATTEN-TION!"

The fighting instantly ceased, the men that were conscious or able to move standing at attention. Kevin felt himself snap to it instantly.

A tall muscular guy in the black uniform stomped in, the authority total in his voice, belaying the kind features on his face.

"What the hell is going on here?" The anger and annoyance in his eyes was apparent.

A marine answered first. "That trooper sir, he knocked Bailey unconscious." The guy pointed towards Raines. The rank on the guy's uniform was visible now. He was a Sergeant.

The sergeant turned towards the short man and the redhead. "Leth, is this true?"

"Yes sir. But the marine started it first. He instigated an unnecessary situation."

"And he ended up unconscious?"

"Yes sir."

The sergeant raised his eye brows and walked over towards Raines. The sniper sucked in a breath, not knowing what was going to happen. He expected the worst.

The sergeant got right in his face.

"You took him down?"

"Yes sir. He threw at punch at the back of my head."

"Did it connect?"

"No. "

"He's twice your size."

"Yes sir."

The sergeant stared at him for a minute, and…was that a smirk? It was ever so slight. He walked away.

"Everyone involved in this little scuffle is done eating. You're going to clean up the mess you all made, and report directly to your bunks. I'll just have to draw up a duty roster in return for your impromptu combative session. The rest of you go back to your meals." He walked out without another word.

Raines made for the mops that were already being pulled out, but caught the red head and the short guy looking at him first. People made a berth around him, and he went to work.

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Ok, here are the translations for Ross in the second short:

1: Listen you crazy bitch, you were just a hole to rut in when I was bored. Now go blow your commanding officer for a promotion and leave me alone!

2: Get out! Try to avoid herpes on the way back!

Can anyone guess what language it was? I used a translator, so it might not be perfect.


End file.
